1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to printing documents, and more particularly to transmitting print-ready electronic documents to a printer using e-mail as a transport mechanism.
2. Description of the Background Art
Document transmission via e-mail is well known in the art, and has become increasingly common as Internet connectivity has become ubiquitous. The most prevalent use of such e-mail transmission is from one computer to another. However, many other types of devices, such as printers, document storage devices, and the like are now configured for Internet protocols and connectivity, so that e-mail transmission among these various types of devices has emerged as an efficient transport mechanism.
For example, a printer may be assigned an e-mail address, and may be configured to print documents that are received at its e-mail address. Such an arrangement provides an easy way to implement network connectivity and accessibility for a printer (or other resource). Users can send documents to the printer from any location that is capable of sending e-mail (subject to security considerations such as firewalls and the like). Typically, this operation is initiated by attaching a document to an e-mail message, specifying the e-mail address of the printer, and sending the e-mail. The document may be in a conventional format, such as a Microsoft Word .doc format (for a word processing document) or a Microsoft Excel .xls format (for a spreadsheet document), or the like.
In order for the printer to be able to properly process incoming documents, it may run an automated script that provides instructions for receiving and processing incoming e-mails. In addition, the printer generally must run some version of the software that was used to create the documents to be printed, or alternatively a specialized software version that is capable of reading and rendering the received documents. For example, if a printer receives a Microsoft Word document for printing, the printer generally cannot print out the document unless it runs some version of Microsoft Word (or another software program that is capable of reading Microsoft Word files and rendering them for printing).
It is often disadvantageous, or even unfeasible, for destination printers to run software applications such as Microsoft Word in order to implement printing via e-mail. One disadvantage is that such software applications typically include many configuration options that are specific to a particular installation. If the software at the printer is not configured the same way as the software at the user's computer, the output may not be what the user expects. In fact, in such a situation the user may not have adequate control over key elements of the printing operation, such as for example the size of paper, orientation of the printout (portrait or landscape), number of copies, whether or not to include hidden text, and the like. Such elements are usually selected by a user via a Print Setup dialog box; however, when a document is e-mailed to a printer for automated printing upon receipt, the user may lose control over such elements.
In addition, full versions of such software applications, which are often quite large and processor-intensive, may make undue demands on the processor time of printers. Running such applications at the printer is an inefficient use of system resources, as the printer is unable to make use of most of the functionality of the software application, but is forced to run the application merely to facilitate printing. Scaled-down versions of such software applications may be a viable option, but such versions are not always available.
Even when scaled-down versions are available, or when the printer is able to run the full versions without detrimental effect, additional disadvantages remain. Since a printer cannot print a document unless some version of the software that created the document is running at the printer, the choice of which printer to use for a particular print job may be limited. Users are required to know which printers are running which applications (and possible even which versions of applications) before they can be confident that a printer is capable of printing a particular document. User may become frustrated at such limitations on flexibility and choice of printing destinations.
Another disadvantage of conventional schemes for sending a document to a printer via e-mail is that the user is required to specify the e-mail address of the printer. If a user wishes to make a printed copy of a document available for a second user, at a printer that is located near the second user, there is generally no mechanism for sending the print job to the appropriate printer, unless the e-mail address of the particular printer is known. The user may instead simply send the document to the second user, and allow the second user to print the document as needed; however, such an approach carries several disadvantages. For example: the document may not print in the same format as was originally intended; the second user may inappropriately modify the document before printing it; the second user may feel burdened by the need to manually open and print the received document.
In addition, if a user sends a document to a second user, and subsequently revises or updates the document, the second user may not be aware that the version of the document he or she received is now out of date. Subsequently, the second user may print the received document and mistakenly assume that the printed version is the most up-to-date version available.
What is needed is a technique for printing a document received at a printer via e-mail, without requiring that the printer run or activate a version of the software that created the document. What is further needed is a technique for sending a print job to a printer via e-mail, while retaining settings and preferences for the document to be printed. What is further needed is a mechanism for transmitting a print-ready document to a printer via e-mail. What is further needed is a technique for a first user to transmit a print-ready document to a printer that is accessible by a second user, without having to specify the e-mail address of the printer. What is further needed is a technique for transmitting a document to a second user for printing, while ensuring that the printed version is the most recent, current version of the document, even if revisions have been made after the document was transmitted.
What is further needed is a technique for sending print jobs to a printer that avoids the limitations described above, minimizes overhead, and improves efficiency.